Air-ship.



PATBNTED DEC. 4, 1906.

E. HUTCHINSON.

AIR SHIP. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6, 1904.

`4 SHEETS-sum1.

PATENTED DEC. -4, 1906.

E. HUTGHINSON.

AIR SHIP.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 837,472. PATENTED DEG. 4, 1906.

' E. HUTCHINSON.

AIR SHIP.

APPLICATION FILED rm. 6. 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET a.

alfwjlaz'fzon/ PATENTED DEC. 4, 1906.

B. HUTCHINSON.

AIR SHIP.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 6. 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

IQINITED `STATES APATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD HUroHINsoN, or Pirineo, MEXICO.

AIR-SMP.

To'la/ZZ whom it may concern: 'r

Be it known that I, EDWARD HUTCHINsoN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Ianuco, in the State ofVera Cruz and Republic of Mexico, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air-Ships, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

My improvement relates to air-ships ofthe gliding type; and its object is to utilize the principles of the aeroplane and combining therewith a suitable number of revoluble lifting-wheels-or ropellers which by roper manipulation an control render aeria navigation both practicable and safe. This I accomplish by the means hereinafter fully described, and as particularly `pointed out in the claims. L

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central sectionA through the body of the car drawn to a larger scale and with the rudders and lifting-fans broken away. Fi 3v is a horizontal section of the same, ta en just above the plane of the floor of the car. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the air-ship drawn to the same scale as Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 6 is a vertical central section of one of the fan-shafts and mast su 3o porting the same drawn to a larger sca e.

ig. 7 is a horizontal section therethrough taken on dotted lines 7 7, Flg. 6, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig.

8 is a similar section taken on dotted line 8 8,

' by its Fig. 6, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. 9 is a detail view showing,

on an enlarged scale, the gearing connectingthe shafts for regulating the position of the vanes of the lifting-fans. Fig. 10 is a detail view of the joint or hinge connecting the secondary aeroplane to its supporting-frame.

In the drawings, A represents `tzhe floor of the car of my invention, which is, except for a short slightly turned-up portionv at each end, perfectly flat, and its ed es bound an elliptical area, the ends of whic intersected major axis, are corresponding] trun cated. The ends of the end edges of t e floor of the car made by thus truncating the same are connected, and said "floor is made more rigid by arallel trussed frames B B, and the tops of tffese frames B B are arched from end to endof the ear and at suitable points along their length are reinforced by the transverse braces B B. This Speccationof Letters Patent. Application filed February' v6, 1904-.. Serial No. 192,807.

Patented Dec. 4, 1906.-

covered by a turtle-back hatchway B3 in it, up body of the operator projects and provides a hold in which the actuating mechanism of the air-ship is housed.

Supported in a perfectlyhorizontal plane` by suitable poles C C Whose lower ends rest deck B2, that has a through which the. f

in suitable sockets secured to the floor of the f car near its side ed' es, is an aeroplane C which is preferably o an elliptical shape an extends over considerably more area than that covered by the car. This aero lane may, i'f desired'7 be provided with wings D, Whlch may be either permanently or removably secured to its outer frame on each side thereof according as desired, and said aero-l plane is provided With a forward and a rear circular opening a a, the diameter of which corresponds to almost one-half of the length of the same. These openings a are occu led by the lifting-fans of my invention, eacli of which has vanes E, that can be turned on their axes at any angle within the range of ninety degrees, either in an open position, as when it is .desired to. lift the ship vertically, or open to a different extent, as when it is desired to lift one end of the ship higher than the other to et it in position to glide through the air in t e manner of an aeroplane," or closed, so that said vanes will be in the same plane and present with the aeroplane C practically an unbroken fiat surface during the horizontal flight of the 'air-ship through the air. The vanes E'of each fan are mounted on s indles c, which radiate from the head d of s afts F, which latter 'are located near each end of and extend up from the car and 'are sup orted by and revolve around the masts secured to and arising from the floor A, the one near one end ofthe car and the other near the opposite end of the same. The outer ends of spindles c are ournaled in an outer ring or annulus E', which is reinforced andheld in a horizontal position by stay-rods e e, Whose lower ends converge toward and are suitably secured ,to sa1dshafts nearer the car-body, substantially as shown. The inner ends of said s indles extend through a suitable annu us c andv through suitable bearings in the sides of the head d of said shaft F and are provided with corresponding cranks f, .the inner ends of which are preferably' rovided with studs or have friction-rollers )ournaled thereto that framework of thecar is l enter the circumferential groove in the rim IIO lro

Ils

. ment thereof and yet e perfectly free to re- The shafts F F ,arel each provided of the wheel g, whoseyertical positioncontrols the rotative position of the s indle c andl the angle of the vanes mounted t ereon.

' The mast G is tubular throughout` its length and has its basev G s read and provided With basal flanges whic are secured in Vany suitable 'manner to the lioor lof the car'.,

duced in diameter and interiorly and exteriorly threaded to enable to screw into the bell H, Isecured on the upper end of thecylindrical central portion or body of shaft F,

and to ermit of the ball-bearing cup I being screwe into the same'. i said cylindrical lentral portion or body of shaft F has a bell H screwed into the same, I'and this bell has seated and secured therein the bearing-cup I. As a result of this cnstruction when the antifriction-balls 'll are placed between said cones and bearing-cups and said cups roperly adjusted and locked the shaft F wil be supported by the mas-t G iiisuchmanner as to revent endwise movevolve. with al miter-gear K at their lower ends, which are engaged and driven by the inions L on the adjacent ends of the drive-shaft M.

The drive-shaft extends longitudinally from one mast at one end of the car to the mast at the otherl end ofthe same and is journaled in suitable bearings j y', secured to and arising from the'ioor thereof, and it is drivengbya suitable -lengine N, which is located, preferably, j-ust to the rear of the center of length of the gar. It will lie-noticed that owing tothe engagement of the gears K of the forward and rear fan-shaft at points nearest the .cen-

ter of the car or at points diametrically opdposite veach other one shaft will be revolve one l direction and the other shaft in the oppositev direction. he position of. he wheel g for controlling posi ion of -the vanes of the fans is reguby means consisting of avertical shaft the late 7c, the heel of which is 'ournaled in bearings r located in the center o and inclosed by the base G of each of the` masts, andthe main portion of its length extends u jthrough and A 1s journaled in the bore of t e'said Vmast above its base. The upper portion .of the bore Vof mast G is slightly increased in transversc' dimensions and squared, and the portion 7c of the shaft 7c extending up into this squared portion of the bore of shaft G is reduced in diameter and screw .threaded. Wheel g is provided with a square downwardly-extending central boss g, which Venposition.

The lower end of 'spending series o ters the upper squared ortionof the' bore of `shaft G and is tappe longitudinally and engaged bythe reduced upper screw-threadv ed extension 7c ofshaft k. In operation when shaft 7c is revolved,so that its extension k will screw into the boss g of disk g,

said disk will move `downward and cause the vanes of thefan to assume a` more correspondingly horizontal or'closeil osition", and when the shaft c is turned so t atits upper extension 7c will screw out .of the boss g said' disk will move upwardandf-cause the'vanes ,ofthe fan to `open to a more inclined open Shaft c is revolved according as desired by the operatonby securing to the lower end thereof just above its bearings a worm gear' l and engaging this worm-gear! by a worm O, which engagement is permitted b -cutting awa a portion of the side walls of baserG of the mast G, substantially as shown inFig. 8 of the drawings. These worms' O are secured on the ends of the longitudinal shafts m and n, and theworm and 1ts shaft m, engaging the shaft Ic at the forward end ,ofthe car, are arranged in a longitudinal lane on one side of the center of said shaft, w e the worm and its shaftn are' r-' ranged in a longitudinal lane o n the o lsite side of the center o the rear sha 'lla .The seat P for the operator is located in front of the center of length of the car, so as to ob: tain a more equal distributionof the load. the ship `is to carry, and in order to place the means .for controllil'lg the a of thefans under his contro -the shaft n extends from the rear of the machine to a suitles of the vanes' able point in front of him, and the shaft m extends from the front of the car to a po t inthe same transverse lane as the forw rd end of shaft n. The a jacent ends of these shafts mand 1t-are, provided with suitable sprocket-wheels, and l these sprocket-wheels are connected by suitable link chains mand n to sprocket-wheels on the/ forward ends of corresponding forwardly-extendingv s indles r 1", .journaled in suitable bearings secured n the central portionof a cross-bar R', connecting the trussed frames BA B of the car.

IIO

The rear end ofthe spindle r extends through' its bearings and has secured thereto a handwheel s, which latter has a series of equidistant spurs t extendit forwardly therefrom. The rearend of spin e 1", which is square,

extends through its-beanngiand has a corresponding' hand-wheel S dably mounted t ereon, which is rovided with a correvequidistant radiating spurs T, corresponding in position to the spurs t of the wheel s, by which they are `engaged when said hand-wheels are in the same transverse plane.

expansion coil-spring V which fkeeps the wheel S normally at the of its movement rearward en -said' spindle 1f".v The -conse- Between the wheel S and'y the bearings R spindle r is surrounded by an me for thispurpose.

quence of this construction is that when said wheels are in engagement the revolving of the one will correspondingly move the other and insure the turning of the vanos of the forward and rear fans on their axes -to a corresponding extent; but when it is desired to turn the vanos of either the forward or the rear fan to an extent different from the vanes of the other fan wheel S is pushed forward out of engagement with wheel s to permi t of the independent manipulation of said fans.

I prefer to `employ both a forward and a rear rudder w and YV. These rudders are mounted on vertical spindles and X, located and suitably j ournaled in bearings between the ends of the car-body and the adja` cent fan-shafts, and these rudders are turned in either direction, according as desired, by the operator by providing said spindles with suitable drums y and Y, which are secured thereto above the top ofthe car.A Secured tov these drums are guideropes z and Z, which are made to take one loop or bight around said drums and then their ends crossed and extended to the opposite truss-frames B B of the/car, whence they pass around suitable sheaves 2 2 and are extended alongside said frames B toward the center of length of the car. The rear guide-ropes Z extend to and pass round the sheaves 4 4, securedto the frames B B 1n a transverse plane back of the i operator-seat P, and have their ends extend transversely toward the center of width of the car, where they are connected to a lever 5, whose rear end is pivoted to asuitable plate supported centrally upon the cross-bar 6. The said plate 7 has its forward edge provided with a segmental series of teeth, so that by the proper manipulation of its handle 8 when said lever is' moved on its pivot, either to the right or left, it may be made to engage said teeth, and thereby be retained in the position in which it is moved, accord-` ing as desired by the operator. The guideropes used in connection with the forward rudder after they pass over sheaves 2 2 eX- tend to and pass round sheaves 9 9, secured to frame B in a transverse plane in front=`of the operators seat and then extendtoward the center of width of the car and have their ends secured to a sliding block 10, which is provided with a handle 11, arising from the same and moved in a transverse guideway 12, that is supported centrally on the crossbar 13, connecting the trussed frames B B, substantially as shown.

The general description given of the means for steering the air-ship is thought to be sufficient, especially in View of the fact that I do not claim thatsuch steering apparatus involves the exercise of any invention on .my Vpart and as such general description is thought sufficient to convey anfintelligent idea of the means desired to be employed by I do not desire to be therein when such air-ship is reduced to practice and put in operation.

I have provided parallel corresponding horizontal frames 14 14, which are located on either side of the operatorat an equal distance on either side of the center of width of the car and are supported a suitable distance above the operator by uprights or posts 15 15. Supported on these frames are two corresponding rectangular awnings A16 16, thc adjacent longitudinal edges of which meet midway between frames 14 14 and are hinged together. These awnings 16 are hinged at suitable points to frames 14 14 by means of sleeves 17, which have threaded studs 18, projecting therefrom, that extend through transverse slots in said awnings, and have nuts 19 to clamp the awnings thereto. Now by lifting the center of said awnings (after having loosed nuts 19) a gable-shaped roof may be formed over the operator, which when said nuts are tightened so as to retain the awnings in such position will afford ample protection for vthe operator, or, if desired, these awnings may be arranged ,in the same horizontal plane and made to serve as an aeroplane, substantially as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. These awnings are made of'sutliciently light material, yet strong, so as not to add much weight to the ship. They may, however, if desired, be dispensed with.

What I claim as new is 1. An air-ship comprising a suitable car, a motor, a stationary aeroplane above said car having suitable rear and forward openings therein, and a horizontal fan respectively located in each opening and actuated by said motor, the vanes of one, of said fans being rotatively adjustable either simultaneously with or independently of the vanes of the other.

2. An air-ship comprising a suitable car, a motor,a stationary aeroplane above said car having suitable rear and forward o enings therein, a horizontal fan respectively ocated in each opening and actuated by sald motor, the vanes of one of said fans being rotatively adjustable independently of the Yanes of the other, and a, movable auxiliary aero plane mediate said car and said stationary aeroplane.

3. An air-ship comprising a suitable car, a motor, astationary aeroplane above said car having suitable rear and forward o enings therein, a horizontal fan respectively ocated in each openingand actuated by Sa1d motor, the vanes of one of said fans being rotatively adjustable independently of the vanes of the other, and a collapsible auxiliary aeroplane .mediatesaid car and said stationary aero-` plane.

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4. An air-ship comprising a suitable car, a motor therein, a stationary aeroplane above said car, a horizontal fan, respectively located above the bow and st ern of said car and actuated by said motor, the vanes of one of said fans being rotatively adjustable independently of the vanes of the other, and a movable auxiliary aeroplane located' in a plane mediate said car and fans.

5. Anvair-ship comprising a suitable car, a mast secured to and arising from each end of the same, a tubular shaft supported by and revolving on each mast, a motor operatively connected td and ,actuating said shafts, a

horizontal fan connected to and revolving With each shaft, the vanes of said fans being rotatively adjustable either simultaneouslyor independently of each other, means controlling saidadjuStment, and a stationary aeroplane disposed above the car in the horizontal plane of said fans.

6. An air-ship comprising a suitable car, tubular masts secured to and arising from each end of the same, tubular shafts supported by and revolvinfJr on said masts the upper ends or heads of Wzhich are increased in diameter, horizontal fans, movable vanes therefor, spindles -on which said vanes are mounted the inner converging ends of Which extend through suitable bearings in the sides of the head of said shaft and are providedv with suitable cranks, a vertically-adjustable device having a circumferential groove in its periphery into Which the adjacent extremities of said spindle-cranks enter, and means for controlling the saidavertical adjustment of'said device.

7. An air-ship comprising a suitable car, tubular masts secured to and arisingv from each end of the same, tubular shafts supported' by and revolving on said masts, the 'upper ends or heads of which are increased in diameter, horizontal fans, movable vanes therefor, spindles von which said vanes are mount- -ed the inner converging ends of'which extend through suitable bearings in the sides of the head of said shaft and are rovided with suitable cranks, a non-rotata le vertically-movable disk having a circumferential groove in its periphery, and having a downwardly-extending central boss engaging the bore of said mast, a vertical shaft journaledl in said mast having an upper screw-threaded extension adapted to enter and engage the interiorlythreaded longitudinalbore of said boss.

8. An air-ship com rising. a suitable car, tubular masts secure to and arising from each end of the same, tubular shafts supported and revolving on said masts, horizontal fans connected to and revolving with said shafts consisting of vanes and spindles therefor the inner ends -of which are journaled in said shaft, vertical shafts journaled in the bore of said masts and operatively connected to said spindles at their upper ends, Wormgears secured to said last-mentioned shafts, Worms engaging the same, and hand-operated mechanism of said Worms.

9.\An air-ship com rising a suitable car, tubular masts secure vtoand arising from each end of the same, tubular shafts supported and revolving on said masts, horizontal fans connected to `vand 'revolving with said .shafts consisting of vanes and spindles therefor the inner ends of Which are said shaft, vertical shafts journaled in the bore of said masts and operatively connected journaled 1n4 for controlling the .rotation to said spindlesl at their ,upper ends, Wormgears, secured to said last-mentioned shafts, Worms engaging the same, and hand-operated mechanism for simultaneously or independently controlling the rotation of said Worms. f y

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 27th dayV of January, 1904.

EDWARD HUTCHINSON.

'Witnesses:

ELK. LUNDY, j FRANK D. 'IHoMasoiLv 

